By Dave Alligood
FAIRVIEW PARK, OHIO– The Columbia Raiders’ playoff chances suffered a potentially fatal blow as they lost on the road to Fairview 15-14 on Friday night.
Fairview junior kicker Adam Nemeth banged home a 36-yard field goal with no time on the clock to give the Warriors a huge upset for their second win of the season.
The game winner was his third successful field goal of the game after hitting earlier from 33 and 28 yards.
Fairview Coach Latkovic’s strategy at the end of the game was intentional. Latkovic kept the ball in the middle of the field for Nemeth’s attempt at the end.
Asked if he had faith in Nemeth’s abilities, Latkovic said, “Totally. This guy in practice booms them. If he hadn’t made the other two earlier tonight, I may have been a little nervous.”
Nemeth truly was the difference maker in a game that saw momentum changes with big plays mixed in with turnovers, costly penalties, and numerous missed opportunities on both sides.
His first field goal came from 33 yards out in the first quarter to give Fairview a 3-0 lead.
Early in the second quarter he banged one from 28 yards to cut Columbia’s lead to 7-6. Fairview quarterback Declan Jewitt had missed on consecutive passes in the end zone, leading to the field goal attempt. The successful try would prove crucial later in the game.
After Nemeth’s make, the teams would trade turnovers and possessions for the remainder of the half, keeping the score 7-6 at the break.
The second half began with consecutive three-and-outs before Columbia would strike again, doing what they do best: eating up the clock, and wearing the defense down on an 11-play, 77-yard drive that took 5:36 off the clock and resulted in a Bycznski six-yard touchdown run. The PAT gave Columbia a 14-6 lead with just over two minutes in the third quarter, and Columbia looked to be cruising toward another victory.
Coach Latkovic commented on Columbia’s strength: “They bullied us up and down the field at times because we’re smaller than them. That’s what they do.”
But Fairview’s scrappiness kicked in as they used two big runs from junior running back Jack Provenza to move down the field before Marty Rehor capped the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. The missed two-point conversion maintained Columbia’s lead at 14-12.
Coach Latkovic called out both Provenza’s and Rehor’s tough running as key plays that allowed Fairview to stay in the game.
Both teams would then again trade three-and-outs to set up Columbia’s next drive beginning at Fairview’s 13-yard line with 8:04 left in the game.
The Raiders would use four consecutive runs to move 48 yards to Fairview’s 39-yard line, highlighted by Bycznski’s 25-yard run. But after a delay of game penalty, Bycznski’s pass was intercepted by Jack Provenza at Fairview’s 34-yard line.
The interception was Bycznski’s second one and third total turnover of the game and marred an otherwise fine performance running the ball.
Fairview would take over with 5:48 left in the game and embark on the drive that would set up Nemeth’s heroics.
Coach Latkovic described Fairview’s game-winning drive as an “ugly mess” but ultimately turned out in their favor this time.
“This has happened to us all year, we have these momentary lapses, and we’ve been preaching and pounding every day at practice all year, we’ve got to overcome these things,” he said.
On offense, Fairview was led by Jack Provenza who gained 134 yards on 10 carries, including several runs over 10 yards. Marty Rehor contributed 42 yards on 12 carries and scored Fairview’s lone touchdown. Freshman quarterback Declan Jewitt completed 4 passes for 65 yards and showed gritty toughness as he was harassed and knocked down multiple times by Columbia’s pass rush.
Columbia was led by quarterback Jared Bycznski’s 163 yards on 18 carries with both of Columbia’s touchdowns. He also completed four passes for 57 yards. Senior tailback Adam Alten contributed 45 yards on eight carries.
Fairview is now 2-2 in the Stripes division of the Patriot Athletic Conference and 2-7 overall. They will conclude their season at home next Friday night versus rival Lutheran West.
Columbia falls to 2-2 in conference play and 5-4 overall, and their No. 6 ranking in the Region 21 computer rankings is at risk. The Raiders finish their season on the road versus Oberlin and will need help to secure a playoff spot.
Player of the Game: Junior kicker Adam Nemeth was successful on all three of his field goal attempts from 33, 28, and 36 yards. The big one was at the end of the game for the winner as time expired. Fairview had marched down the field in 12 plays and let the clock run down to two seconds before calling their final timeout to set up the attempt.
On the game-winning kick, Nemeth said, “I was kind of just trying to keep it cool just like always, just doing what I do in practice. I went out there, kept my cool, [and] in the end did my job.”
@FPWarriorSports pull off the huge win over @_CHSFootball on a last play field goal for a 15-14 win @NEOSportsInside pic.twitter.com/u90vndfBoM
— Matt Loede (@MattLoede) October 21, 2017
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